Gli Orchi-Dei, Vol. 4: La Primogenita

Les Ogres-Dieux #4

by Hubert, Bertrand Gatignol (Illustrator)

Con il quarto volume dell’acclamata serie Gli Orchi-Dei si conclude la serie sulla dinastia dei giganti immaginata da Hubert e Gatignol. La Primogenita porta perfettamente a compimento uno dei lavori più personali e apprezzati del compianto sceneggiatore, con i monumentali disegni di Bertrand Gatignol. Il rinnovato interesse per le opere dello scrittore, unito a un finale epico e ricco di colpi di scena, fanno di questa storia un successo assicurato.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, France

Kindle Edition

First published November 18, 2020

About the author

Hubert Boulard de son vrai nom ; il naît à Saint Renan, Finistère, en 1971. À l’origine, il ne se destine pas à la Bande dessinée, mais aux Arts plastiques. Il entre aux Beaux-Arts, d’abord à Quimper, puis à Angers. C’est là qu’a lieu une rencontre déterminante : Yoann (Toto l’Ornithorynque, La Voleuse du Père Fauteuil...), qui se destine déjà à être auteur et est publié en Angleterre. C’est lui qui fait (re)découvrir la bande dessinée à Hubert et ce qui s’y passe alors, tant aux États-Unis (Miller, Sankievitz, Mac Kean, Mignola ...) qu’en France (Barbier, David B., Trondheim...). En 1994, Hubert passe son diplôme de fin d’étude avec des installations tendance conceptuelle. Une fois sorti, il se pose l’inévitable question : « Et maintenant ?» d’autant plus qu’il se sent de moins en moins attiré par le milieu de l’Art Contemporain et de plus en plus par l’écriture. Après un bref passage dans le graphisme, il commence à travailler comme coloriste (Ninie Rezergoude avec Yoann et Omond, éditions Delcourt en 1999). De nombreuses collaborations suivront (notamment avec Paul Gillon, Jason, David B, Tronchet, Philippe Berthet, Vink…). Il est actuellement le coloriste de la série Spirou, avec Yoann et Fabien Vehlmann. Parallèlement, en 2000, il signe ses premiers projets en tant que scénariste : Le Legs de l’Alchimiste avec Hervé Tanquerelle, paru chez Glénat (qui passe le relais à Benjamin Bachelier au tome 4) et Les Yeux verts avec Zanzim au dessin, aux éditions Carabas. En 2006, Hubert ait son entrée chez chez Poisson Pilote avec La Sirène des Pompiers, dessinée par Zanzim et Miss Pas Touche, réalisé avec les Kerascoët. Suivront en 2010 Bestioles, avec Ohm chez Dargaud, La Chair de l’araignée avec Marie Caillou chez Glénat et en 2011 Beauté avec les Kerascoët chez Dupuis. Hubert vit et travaille à Paris.

Texte et photo © Dargaud

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le quatrième (et, dit-on, l’ultime) épisode de la série des Ogres-Dieux. Ce dernier tome nous vient après le décès soudain d’Hubert, et Bertrand Gatignol lui dédie cette conclusion magnifique.

« Première-née » nous fait voyager dans le temps jusqu’à l’aube du règne des ogres-dieux et de leur principal ancêtre, le fameux Fondateur (c’est-à-dire, un géant par rapport aux humains, mais plutôt minus comparé à ses enfants qui déchirent les entrailles de leurs mères humaines).

Contrairement aux tomes précédents, Hubert et Gatignol nous donnent cette fois-ci une héroïne dans le rôle principal. Nous suivons donc l’histoire de princesse Bragante, ladite « première-née » du Fondateur. A cause de sa taille gigantesque, Bragante tue sa mère la reine en venant au monde. Elle est la seule fille légitime, car dorénavant, son père ne s’occupera des femmes que pour les forcer à porter ses enfants de taille monstrueuse.

Bragante grandit sous la tutelle de sa tante maternelle, Nita. Celle-ci lui transmet le goût du savoir et l’importance de préserver l’Histoire passée, présente, et future. Peu à peu, Bragante se rend compte qu’il lui faudra se battre pour résister aux violences de son père, sans oublier les frères de Bragante qui tournent au monstrueux. La princesse ainée compte monter sur le trône, même s’il lui faudra manigancer contre sa propre famille. Il y va de sa vie, ainsi que celle du royaume.

J’ai trouvé l’histoire très prenante, avec des personnages fascinants et ambigus. Bragante se bat contre des adversaires auxquels elle ne sait pas tout de suite faire face. Nous la voyons grandir et changer au cours de sa vie. C’est dommage que nous ne puissions pas avoir plus de personnages secondaires plus développés. Les alliés de Bragante ne survivent pas longtemps (bon, logique, Bragante survit car elle est tenace et sur ses gardes) donc pas de chance de les voir évoluer. On remarque le même problème du côté des adversaires de Bragante, c’est-à-dire son père, ses frères, et certaines de ses sœurs qui (pour des raisons complexes et navrantes) ne restent pas toujours fidèles.
Et pourtant, ce tome est bourré de péripéties et de personnages secondaires et tertiaires, alors on ne reste pas du tout sur sa faim. Mais d’un point de vue subjectif, je préfère un peu plus de développement pour les personnages d’une série aux proportions épiques.

Le tout est un vrai chef d’œuvre que je recommande sans hésiter. Ce n’est pas la suite que j’attendais après la fin du tome précédent, mais l’histoire se conclue de manière très belle avec la fin de Bragante et le début d’Émione, la mère de notre premier héros Petit (voir le tome 1).
Je voudrais conclure en remerciant Bertrand Gatignol pour tout son travail sur ce dernier tome. Cela n’a pas dû être facile en vue des circonstances, et le résultat final est un véritable joyau qui donne envie de relire toute la série du début à la fin.

Recommandé pour ceux qui connaissent déjà la série, mais aussi pour ceux qui voudraient la commencer. C’est une BD parfaite pour les amateurs de fantaisie aux couleurs sombres, de géants mangeurs d’hommes, et d’intrigue politique.

[Momotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

La boucle est bouclée ! On en apprend encore plus sur l'histoire de cette famille royale hors normes et ses origines, et ce dernier tome rejoint le premier. Une très bonne lecture, avec toujours des dessins magnifiques.

[Anne-Lise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sans faire exprès, je l'ai lu juste après Petit (et sans lire aucun des autres) et je pense que ça n'a pas aidé ma lecture puisque c'est sensé être le dernier.
J'ai trouvé qu'il y avait trop de violence à mon goût pour ce que j'avais envie de lire en ce moment. Même si oui, je sais, on s'attend à de la violence mais quand même.
Il y a aussi pas mal de choses qui m'ont semblées incompréhensibles et c'est probablement à cause de mon propre ordre de lecture.
Bref, j'attends de lire les deux autres tomes pour réserver mon jugement sur la série entière.
Magnifique travaille d'Hubert cependant.

[Flo Svn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dernier opus. Toujours magnifique mais plus loin de l'arc principal. Dommage, on s'y perd avec de nouveaux personnages, plus loin du hero Petit et on reste sur notre faim. C'est plus un prequel qu'une conclusion à l'histoire. Girl power à fond cependant.

[Lili Aurelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toujours aussi original et prenant, et des dessins toujours aussi fascinants. Le dernier chapitre faisant le lien entre le premier tome et le dernier est une très belle idée.

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2

[Lyx Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nonnnn c'est pas possiiiiiible ça peut pas s'arrêter là!!! J'étais si prête à lire la suite de l'histoire & l'antagonisme entre Yori Draken & Petit!!! Mais en même temps je ressens au plus profond de mon être ce que Betrand Gatignol dit dans ses remerciements, "Je remercie X, X et X pour leur soutien tout au long de cette interminable tourmente", si moi je peine avec ma propre saga médiévale, au moins je n'ai pas le supplice de devoir illustrer tous ces châteaux sous tous leurs angles, et gérer toutes les différences de taille des personnages... j'admire énormément le travail des deux collaborateurs & je vais m'empresser d'acheter cette série en croisant les doigts pour un éventuel tome 5, l'affrontement Yori/Petit, j'aimerais tant voir ça!!

[Rafaela Oliveira · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'adore cette saga de dark fantasy ! Ils ont créé une fin époustouflante ! La première né c'est la suite de l'histoire du Fondateur et fait le lien avec le tome sur Le Petit. Très bien, pas d'autres mots ! L'art est très jolie !

[Kylie90 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decisamente un bel prequel che mostra il significato che c’è dietro la nascita di Piccolo, protagonista dei primi volumi. Disegni sempre magnifici e storie molto interessanti! Un bellissimo ultimo volume!

[Nolan Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book for the art. I knew from reading the first three it would be a visual treat regardless of the story. It's a beautiful book; if you've read the others, you'll probably enjoy this one as well, if only to consume more content from the world and lore. However, that's all it is- lore.

No progress or closure to the initial storyline of Petit, only backstory. The first book spoiled the whole plot of this one, and even made it sound interesting. The reader could imagine vast depths to the world and events. By going back to write it out, some of the magic and mystery is leeched out- but at least now we know that the First Born could have made the world a better place if she had killed a couple people.

I consider this book the least visually appealing of the series partly due to the writing and partly due to the compositional choices. Two thirds of the book is just characters talking, which kind of misses the point of it being a book about giants. At times it felt like a sitcom- no grand setpieces, no otherworldly vistas, just the interior of the castle and people yelling at each other. The artist wasn't given enough slack to flex, and it shows.

The main character had me interested- the First Born, one of the defining figures for the palace for generations, a character that has a lot of potential to clash with The Founder from a storytelling perspective- but what I got was a poorly written female character that didn't learn, grow, or have any influence on the story. Her character arc was essentially "I tried to make the world a better place and failed, so I guess I'll give up." Which isn't very inspiring.

All in all, I'm struggling to enjoy the series. I know they're trying to really flesh out the world and plumb their lore for interesting tales and whatnot- and having this book tie back around to Petit was a decent move- but the writing, the quality of storytelling, the succinctness of the first book simply isn't there. Even the historical asides, which I appreciate immensely from a formatting standpoint, dragged on and didn't add much.

This book very much suffers from sequel syndrome, and I can't say I'd recommend it for anything aside from the art, and even then only tentatively. Most likely won't read again unless to study the art or during a read through of the whole series.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth and final volume of writer Hubert and artist Bertrand Gatignol's fascinating series, The Ogre Gods, which began by introducing the overall storyworld with a kingdom ruled by giants in Petit , where we also met the first protagonist, Petit (the miniscule, and therefore unwanted, son of the king and queen). The story then continued in Half-Blood , by focusing on the history of the human chamberlains to the giants, using the current chamberlain Yori Draken as protagonist. And then in The Great Man , the narrative strands of Petit and Yori Draken came together, as the story continued and introduced both mysterious Oloks and the exiled Bear (the protagonist of that volume).

As Hubert and Gatignol closes their grand saga, they move the narrative back in time and add even more narrative layers than previously. Bragante, the titular First Born, daughter of the Founder, is telling the story of her own life and how the kingdom came to her granddaughter, Elmire, in the hope that she will alter the course of history and save the kingdom from what she perceives as its inevitable decline.

Just as the previous three volumes have expanded our understanding of the storyworld by interspersing stories in prose about various historical kings and queens from The Book of the Ancients in Petit, about various chamberlains from The Book of the Chamberlains in Half-Blood, and about Bear and the Oloks from The Tale of Bear in The Great Man, this volume presents, alongside Bragante's own narration (presented in comics sequences), such prose stories from Bragante ("The Story of Nita", "The Story of Aramande: Book Hunter for the First Born", "The Story of Elvir Elissen: The Founder's First Lieutentant", and "The Story of Master Tovar: Architect to the First Born, who fought King Orobaal in his own fashion") and also "The Story of Émione: The last scholar of the family, who went from outcast to king's wife" from The Book of the Ancients.

What is perhaps most interesting here is that Hubert and Gatignol do not follow up on the closing events of the previous volume, but rather backtracks for more context and, by bringing things back to Émione, i.e. Petit's mother, towards the end, essentially coming full circle. As such, some story strands are left open, but in a very suitable way, which nonetheless provides a sense of closure to this saga.

All in all, this is conclusion to the series manages well to surprise me with the turns it takes while also wrapping things up. The end result is a four volume saga that is very well worth the read for anyone interested in fairytales and/or grand epic fantasy sagas with storyworlds that are provided with an historical width and depth.

[Psychée Délik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avec ce quatrième tome, Hubert et Bertrand Gatignol nous offre un retour aux origines des Ogres-Dieux. On nous raconte l'envers du décor, la véritable histoire derrière l'Histoire.

Bragante est un personnage fort malgré les nombreuses entraves à sa vie. Elle est abaissée à sa condition féminine , destinée à être engrossée par ses frères. Toutefois, première descendante, première géante, elle arrive à imposer le respect à son père.
C'est un récit profondément féministe avec une héroïne qui lutte contre sa destinée. Le cheminement de cette histoire est fort et symbolique. On nous montre la place centrale des femmes dans la société.

Ce volume nous prouve l'importance des livres et du savoir. Grâce à cela, les géants ont pu instaurer un royaume organisé malgré leur puissance brute et violente.

Hubert et Bertrand Gatignol n'enjolivent rien et nous montrent toutes les facettes de cette société, sans chercher à cacher les côtés sombres. Tout n'est pas noir ou blanc.

Ce fut une lecture puissante, passionnante. Ce tome aurait dû être la passerelle entre les tomes précédents et le cinquième tome. Même si cela me rend triste de savoir qu'il y a que très peu de chance qu'une suite arrive un jour, je suis vraiment heureuse d'avoir pu découvrir cette formidable saga.

Ma chronique : https://psycheedelik-unehistoiredemot...

[Leighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First Born: The Ogre Gods Book Four by Hubert and Bertrand Gatignol is a unique gothic fantasy novel that will appeal to fans of Game of Thrones or Outlander. The story revolves around Bragante the Firstborn, an elderly woman who is telling her granddaughter about her past. Her past includes cruelty from her father, the king, as well as many other terrible things. According to the description, "her tale is full of woe and intrigue, as well as strength, cunning, and conviction..."

Overall, First Born: The Ogre Gods Book Four is an interesting graphic novel with a very unique art style. The art is black and white and really complements the gothic and terrifying story. I did take off 2 stars, because I really wasn't a fan of the art. Something about the wide-eyed, screaming faces was off-putting to me. It definitely added to the creepy atmosphere of the book though. If you're intrigued by the description, you can check out this book when it comes out in June!

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

My third dip into this black and white fantasy world has provided yet again for a different kind of book than I'd expected. Here the concern is focused on the titular royal Princess, and what she thinks about being the oldest child of a King that only wanted sons, and about childbirth – this being, in case you're new to it, a world of giants and regular-sized people in the same family. For once it's actually quite some time before we see the scale in the relationships concerned, but the script is completely overt and obvious about the hellish harem-styled area of the castle this is set in, and how the whole shebang is utterly incestuous, sexist and downright nasty. I still think the books are a bit too muddled, in jumping into prose for a few pages each chapter, but if you have the time and patience for that these are certainly among the more intriguing fantasy efforts. I've yet to see one that is as good as its potential allowed for, meaning me and this cycle might part ways here, but I go not exactly having regretted seeing anything that I did.

[Goran K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book read more like a book than like graphic novel which was a bit disappointing as I liked the art style and atmosphere of the previous books. Story, however, gets deeper and better, more fleshed out.

In this Volume we get the backstory of Bragante, the Firstborn, and with it we can see how the Ogre gods grasped their throne, almost how it all begun. It is not the sequel that I expected after the end of the previous volume, but the story basically ends at the beginning. In the end we get the backstory of Emione, the mother of our first hero Petit, from Volume 1.

The reason for a bit inconclusive ending is sudden death of author, Hubert, so co-author Bertrand Gatignol decided to wrap it up. It is unfortunate as the story could be developed further, whole world building was fascinating, but there is a conclusion, I'd say a circle of life in this four volumes, and I'd recommend it to all the graphic novel (and book) lovers.

[Thomas Perscors · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the series as a whole comes off as being somewhat unfinished book 4 does bring things back around to the beginning making it a mostly satisfactory conclusion. It centers on the women ogres, foremost among them the first born, who strove to civilize and rule her family. Like the other books in the series, there is some interesting myth making and world expansion here- especially in regard to the role of women ogres and their world of forced childbirth. It’s nice to see how this book weaves its story into the story arcs from the earlier books.

Final thought, I’m really happy I gave this series a second shot. I loved the world building and the stories the world gave rise to. It feels like reading a medieval manuscript of a fantastic land.

[Nessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC! I didn’t realize this was the fourth book in the series, but I thought it could work well as a standalone. I also thought this was a graphic novel, but there were mini stories throughout the book which were told entirely in text. But the stories were interesting to read regardless of the format. The artwork was stunning and I might have to check out the first three books in the series so I can get more of it. Although I loved the art, the story was a very emotional read for me because it mirrors what’s happening to women today, especially regarding women’s rights, and that made this book a bit difficult to read.

[Sarah AK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this more than the last book (and more than a lot of books I've read recently), but I'm still left feeling underwhelmed by where it all went. Is it bad? No, not at all. But is it a bit disappointing to continually get more backstory instead of conclusion? Yeah, it is. I appreciated that this book was more focused on a woman's perspective, even though that made it absolutely horrific at times (as this series tends to do). Overall, I'm glad I read these books as I enjoyed the artwork and falling into this lore (despite its very disturbing nature), but it ultimately feels a bit unfinished and unsatisfying.

[Monica Go · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I enjoyed this as much as the others; maybe becaause I had lost a bit track of time and characters by now. Their lives do not connect with one another as much as before, and maybe I missed some of them.
We have a lot less drawings and more written history, which, again, is something I didn't love.
What I enjoyed though, was the discussion about women and their role in (this) society and how they were treated by men. I'm glad that there was at least one character, the firstborn, that tried to rise above all that.

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel gives off dark fantasy and gothic vibes! I don't think it will be for everyone because while the artistry is beautiful at times it can be off-putting because of the horror vibes this book is trying to convey. This graphic novel isn't only drawings either. Every so often the story is told through just text also.

I got this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Agathe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome.

Though, a little disappointed. It's the rightful conclusion and at the same time, it doesn't live up to rest of the saga. You don't really learn anything new, you just find out the last details about how and why it turn out really bad. But there's no more big revelation, you already understand what was going on at the end of the third book.

Somehow, it could have stop at the end of the third book.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors, Magnetic Press for providing my copy.

Read the fourth book without know the previous installment in kinda challenging. But I will try to make it. The artwork is amazing but very gruesome. The story it self is interesting but dark grim, Actually I am not the right target, but the right reader will appreciate the book more..

[Kiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital copy of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

This final and fourth volume was an interesting conclusion to this series. It contained more text than the former volumes and told the story of the First Born giant and history of the giants' lineage. I enjoyed the story, but I had hoped for more illustrations.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avec ce tome, on revient aux origines et on retrouve nos horribles géants. J’avoue que c’est triste de voir ces personnages éduqués tenter de sortir cette famille de sa bêtise et échouer.
C’est moi ou les histoires de Hubert se terminent toujours mal ? 😅

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

l'interpretation de la position de la femme, tout à la fin de la série, seulement pour redoubler et se retrouver au début de la série :/ je suis déçue

[Lou-ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. A perfect last volume to this fascinating series. The ending was so smart and touching

[mar✰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

el dibujo me pareció padre y qué perro coraje con la historia y todas las mujeres que no podían gobernar grrr

thanks to netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[The Bibliopossum]

I need to re-read the entire quartet before giving a review or rating for this book.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad that this is the last one in the series. I think one more would have tied it up better. But still really liked this one and loved the series as a whole.